Way After Midnight....

I know I've said this before, but I will say it again, and I truly mean it: Tonight's party was the absolute best. We have such a great group of friends, and the Charades group has grown into a very interesting, lively bunch of people. We all laughed so hard tonight that we were hurting, and it seemed that no one wanted to stop playing. The Charades game went on till 11:30 or so, with just a few people having to leave early because they live on the other side of downtown and it takes them an hour to get home. We were playing ladies against the men.... and the ladies won by about six points. Not much of a margin, but as the men said--- a win is a win.

The potluck dinner buffet had everything from spiced pecans to cherry pie, homemade Greek hummus and homemade southern cole slaw, a Philippino vegetable & noodle casserole, baked Italian ziti, and Spanish rice with fish and sausage. There were many other dishes, but I'm just too tired at the moment to remember them all. The pink Valentine punch was a hit, and I filled up my extra-large punch bowl twice during the night.

We did something different with Charades this time.... my husband bought a huge sketch pad and we gave everyone the option of drawing the clues and/or acting out the clues. I don't know which was funnier--- the acting or the drawing. And I can't even tell you which clues were the best or the funniest, because they really all were. Everyone said the same thing as they were going out the door--- "This was just the best party ever."

My husband wore his red Valentine tie with the little white hearts all over it. All of the ladies just loved that tie. And they will all be surprised when their husbands open up their gift-bags when they get home, because one of the gifts for each of the men was that same tie. They can wear the ties on Valentine's Day this year, and we'll see how many of the men come to our Valentine's party next year wearing that same tie!

So now of course, we're thinking of the next Charades party. I know that I had been thinking of having smaller dinner parties for 8 or 10 people, rather than a large party for 26 people. But honestly, how could I do that? Everyone really looks forward to these get-togethers, and so many of our friends say "We just couldn't ever miss one of your parties!" --- and we know that some people in the Charades group will cancel or postpone other things just to come here for one of our parties. There's just no way for me to cut down a guest list of 26 to 30 people to just 8 or 10.

Our friends K and B told us tonight that they won't be doing their usual Easter morning brunch and egg hunt this year. K is just too busy with other responsibilities, and she has to travel to California just before Easter-time. No way for her to put together an Easter party for 40 people. Which, of course, got me to thinking that my husband and I haven't ever had an Easter-time Charades party before.

But we'll think about that tomorrow....... right now, my husband is sound asleep, and that's what I plan to be doing as soon as I get out of these party clothes. That was another great thing about tonight--- mostly everybody wore something pink or red, and we all looked as Valentine-y as the punch.